Latch



9 Jan. 20, 1959' D.IW. HARLING LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed May 11, 1955 INVENTOR. DONALD W. HARLlNG W1\ 7 ATTORNEY Jan. 20, 1959 D. w. HARLING 2,869,909

LATCH Filed May 11, 1955 i 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0' iii! I YINVEIVVTOR. Dorm W. HARLING Y BY Fma. \o MflalTJ/n ATTORNEY in Figural LATCH Donna w. nailin .Milwankee,.Wis.', assignor is Me- Graw-Ed son Company,-a corporation of Delaware Application May 11, 1955', Serial No. 507,612 7 Claims. (or.- 292- 256) This invention relates to a latch construction particularly usefiil inluminaires. v

In luminaires it is a customary practice to provide a stationary housing assembly provided with a. reflecting means and ahinged globe assembly which is pivoted or hinged at oneend and latchedat the other end to the stationary housing assembly. v

The luminairesare customarily mountedout of doors and are subjected to, rain, sleet, and snow and also are usuallymounted at considerable elevation so that it is necessary for an attendant to stand on a platform or ladder and reachupwardly to the globe assembly for cleaning, replacing or repair.

Objects of this invention are to provide a latch construction which is highly effective in securely locking the globeassembly to the stationaryhousing, assembly and which has the desirable feature-of securely pressing the globe-assembly against the housing assemblyfto thus eifectively seal or secure the two assemblies together to prevent the entrance of rain, snow,.dust or dirt.

Further objects are to provide, a latch construction particularly suitable for luminaires whichis so made that themain body portion of. the latch provides an effective sleet housing which protects the internally located mechanism .of the latch.

A further important feature of this invention is to so construct the latch that a springpressed latch element or latch proper is provided for yieldinglyurging the globe assembly into sealing engagement with'the housing assembly and to so associate this latch element and the main body of the latch that in closing the globe assembly the latch elementis not contacted by any portion of the globe assembly and thus is'not subjectedt-o wear or damage .during th'e closingfmotion of the globe assembly, in which the latch body portion ismovedfoutwardly byjcam means without contacting the latch element jor latch proper, and in which when latching occursthe latch element is released and allowed to force the globe assembly into sealingjrelation with the stationary housing assembly.

In the preferred form of theinvention a sing'lespring means. is employed andserves not only to roclcthelatch assembly, into latching relation to theglobe assembly, but

also it urg es the latch elementinto latching position.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which: v v t Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of the luminaire showing thelatch construction and showing the globe assembly in closed position.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view through the latchshowing the parts in closedposition.

Figure 3 isa view similar to Figure 2. showing the latch in released or unlatched position and showing the globe assembly in partially open position.

Figure 4 is a bottom view of the construction shown Figu e jis asectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.-

Figiir'efijisaviewof a further form of the invention.

assess Patented Jan. 2%, 1959 assembly indicated, generally by the refereucecharacter 2.

I Figure '7 is 'afragmentary sectional v ew through the This globe assemblyis. pivoted as indicated at 3' to the housing assembly. v .7

The globe assembly comprises a globe .4oflight transmitting material which is supporteiby means, of the supporting ring 5; a suitable. gasket 6; b eing,.interp.osedbetween thering 5 and the. globe The jring is PLO: vided -with trunnions 7 which are supported by hook-like members 8 carriedby the bodyportion, seeFigure 1.

The members-7 ands-constitute thehinge indicated gen-.

erally at 3.

The body, portion or 'stationaryv housing, assembly 1- carries a gasket Q against which the, fiangeof the globe 4 is tightly pressed as shownby Figure 2 by meansof a latch indicatedgenerally by thereference character 10..

The latchv it comprises 1 a hood-like. body portion 11 pivoted as indicated -at 12 on a projecting portion 13 of the stationary housing assembly 1.. The body portion 11 of the latch is provided witha curvedmanipulating and releasingfinger. 14 which 'mfay be manually engaged directly by the hand of the operator or by means of a,

stick to roclcthe body p ortionoutwardly to releasing position as shown in Figure}. I Alatchelement, or latch p pe cat di i al y by the r ren har is pivoted by means of'a pivot lpin arriedbythe body operatively interposed between the latch element 15 and portion, andua spr1ng17 is icoiledf about the pin 16 and.

the b dy por o 0 udu thefla el m n aclockwise r ct as vi w d; fi res Zand .Ih latch element 15 is roughly f inverted Ll-shape and is provided with. a transversely extended member or portion 18 and with a pair of releasing. or manipulating arms 19.

It is to be noted that from lT-iigures{2, j3 andjS that the projecting portion 13 of the 'stationaryhousing assemblyl.

has a downwardly projecting part or flange 20 which engages the arms 19 when thebody portion 1 0 of the beneath a projecting coasting member 21 formed inte.

grally with the ring 5 of the globe assembly. 7

The body portion of the latch is provided with downwardly projecting fingers or cam like members ZZ which coact with the cams or lugs 23 integral with, and forming a partof, the ring 5 when the globe assembly is rocked upwardly. I By means of the peculiar construction and coaction of the parts, damage to the latching element or rapid wear thereof is avoided as'the latchingelement 18 is moved out of the way of the lugs 21 when the members 22 of thebody portion engage the lugs 23 of the ring 5 during closing motion of the globe assembly and when closing motion is completed, the element lfi moves into position below the lugs 21. Also it is to be noted that when the latch is manually released that the coaction of the portion 20 and the arms 19 also withdraws the latching element frombeneath th e'member '21.

Attention is directed toFi'gu'res land 3. It will be theunder side of the cam 'orlugjil that an upward presaaeasos Q sure is transmitted to the globe assembly to force the globe assembly into tightly sealing relation with the stationary housing assembly. Further, there is a reaction produced between the lug 21 and the latch 35 which tends to rock the pin or pivot point 16 of the housing 11 of the latch to its lowest position directly below the pivot point or pin 12. This reactive force thus tends to rock the latch 10 in a clock-wise direction as viewed in Figure 2, that is to say, towards latching position.

In the form of the invention shown Figures 6 through 10 the same general construction is followed as that previously described with the exception that the body portion 11 of the latch is provided with an additional spring 24- which bears against a projecting member 29' of the stationary housing assembly 1 and urges the body portion 11' in a clock-wise direction.

The primary difierence between the construction shown in Figures 1 through 5 for the first form of the invention and Figures 6 through 10 for the second form of the invention is that in the first form the single spring provides the means for producing both of the forces, one of which urges the globe assembly into sealing relation with the stationary housing assembly, and the other of which urges the latch towards latching position, whereas in the second form of the invention an additional spring 24 is employed for urging the latch in assembly id towards latching position.

Corresponding parts in Figures 6 through 10 are indi cated by the same reference characters as in the first form of the invention except that these reference characters have been primed.

If desired, a manipulating lip or member corresponding to that indicated at 14 in the first form of the invention may be added to'the body portion 11 of the latch shown in the second form of the invention.

It is to be understood that the latch is provided with a latching portion in each instance, that is to say, the latch 18 or 18' of the two forms is provided, in each instance, with a latching portion. This latching portion is the actual surface of the member 18 or 18' which engages the bottom side of the lug 21 or 21', respectively. It is to be noted particularly that this latching portion as defined hereinabove is between the two pivots that is to I say, in the first form of the invention between the pivots 12 and 16 and in the second form of the invention, between the pivots 12 and 16'.

The two members, forming the latch proper, have a toggle action since the latching portion as explained hereinabove is located between the two pivots and thus squeezes the two main members of the assembly together and produces the sealing action.

It will be seen that very simple types of latch constructions have been shown which are easily operated and fully protected from sleet, rain etc. Further, the latch assembly has very few parts and these parts may be easily produced and assembled.

Although this invention has been described in con siderable detail, it is to be understood that such descrip tion is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. In a latch construction, a first member and a second member, a latch having a main body portion pivoted on said first member, a latch element carried by said body portion and pivoted on said body portion for forming with said body portion a toggle and having a toggle action with said body portion for latching said first and second members in sealing relation, and spring means between said latch element and said body portion for urging said latch element against said second member to thereby impart a thrust to said second member and said second member into sealing engagement with first member, and means carried by said latch element for engaging said first member to rock said latch eled ment to releasing position when said body portion is rocked outwardly.

2. In a latch construction, a first member and a second member, a latch having a main body portion pivoted on said first member, a latch element carried by said body portion and pivoted on said body portion for forming with said body portion a toggle and having a toggle action with said body portion for latching said first and second members in sealing relation, the pivot point of said latch element being below and laterally displaced from the pivot point of the body portion, and spring means between said latch element and said body portion for urging said latch element against said second member for moving said second member and forcing said second member against said first member and for rocking said body portion inwardly to position a part thereof beneath said first member.

3. in a latch construction, a first member and a second member, a latch having a body portion pivoted on said first member, a latch element pivoted on said body portion and urging said second member against said first member, said latch element having its latching portion located between planes passing through the two pivots, said latch element being pivoted on said body portion at a point below and spaced laterally from the pivot point of said body portion, spring means between said latch element and said body portion for urging said latch element against said second member for moving said second member into sealing engagement with said first memher and for urging said body portion inwardly towards said second member.

4. In a latch construction, a first member and a sec ond member, a latch having a body portion pivoted on said first member, a latch element pivoted on said body portion and urging said second member against said first member, said latch element having its latching portion located between planes passing through the two pivots, said latch element being pivoted on said body portion at a point below and spaced laterally from the pivot point of said body portion, spring means between said latch element and said body portion for-urging said latch element against said second member for moving said second member into sealing engagement with said first member and for urging said body portion inwardlytowards said second member, and means carried by said second member and coacting means carried by said body portion for rocking said body portion outwardly when said second member is moved towards said first member.

5. in a latch construction, a first member and a second member, a latch having a body portion pivoted on said first member, a latch element pivoted on said body portion and urging said second member against said first member, said latch element being pivoted on said body portion at a point below and spaced laterally from the pivot point of said body portion, said latch element havingits latching portion located between planes passing through the two pivots, spring means between said latch element and said body portion for urging said latch ele ment against said second member and for urging said body portion inwardly towards said second member, and

' carried by said first member and operatively engaging said latch element for rocking said latch element into unlatching position when said body portion is rocked outwardly from said first member.

6. in a latch construction, a first member and a second member, a latch having a body portion pivoted on said first member, a latch element pivoted on said body portion and urging said second member against said first member, said latch element having its latching portion located between planes passing through the two pivots,

' said latch element being pivoted on said body portion at a point below and spaced laterally from the pivot point of said body portion, spring means between said latch element and said body portion for urging said latch element against said second member and for urging said body portion inwardly towards said second member, said body portion being of hood-like construction and housing said latch element and said spring means.

7. In a latch construction, a first member and a second member, a body portion pivoted on said first member, a latch element pivoted on said body portion and urging said second member against said first member, said latch element having its latching portion located between planes passing through the two pivots, said latch element being pivoted on said body portion at a point below the pivot point of said body portion, spring means between said 16 latch element and said body portion for urging said latch element against said second member to move said second member into sealing engagement with said first member, and a second spring means between said first member and said body portion .for rocking said body portion inwardly towards said first member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Komenak Dec. 7, 1937 2,324,356 Brown July 13, 1943 2,410,347 Irwin Oct. 29, 1946 2,613,974 Llewhellin Oct. 14, 1952 

